


Her Warden

by pictureswithboxes



Series: Her Warden [1]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, Fluff, just fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-18
Updated: 2016-04-18
Packaged: 2018-06-02 22:55:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6586030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pictureswithboxes/pseuds/pictureswithboxes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Corypheus is defeated, Leliana gets a surprise visitor. A visitor who insists that she sent word and that the courier must be dead if she hadn't received the letter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Her Warden

**Author's Note:**

> I used the default name because I'd accidentally named my warden Aedan and that would just be confusing.

The sun had set more than three hours ago, it was completely dark outside and the stars were shining brightly. Leliana couldn’t help herself from looking up at the sky, it wasn’t rare for Skyhold to offer such a view, but it was rare for Leliana to take notice. The night guard was making their patrols around skyhold, she could hear their echoed footsteps and whispers in the halls. The security had become more lax since Corypheus had been defeated, much to Cullen’s chagrin, but it was certainly easier to concentrate on her work when there weren’t guards walking by every two hours. 

A few minutes later, Leliana heard a horn sound in the distance, she briefly wondered who would be visiting Skyhold at this hour. She hadn’t gotten word that anyone would arrive, and the horn only sounded for important dignitaries or respected warriors. Leliana frowned a little and furrowed her brow, straining to listen for signs as to who had arrived. 

There was silence for a while, then the guards walked by again, though this time their was another set of footsteps. Sure and heavy, they were familiar, Leliana felt her heart skip a beat before taking in a deep breath, calming herself. She knew that she shouldn’t be getting her hopes up, she was tired and anyone could be wearing heavy boots.

A knock on the door made Leliana’s head snap, she stood up and walked to the door, taking in a deep breath before opening it. 

Suddenly she felt like all of the air and been knocked out of her lungs. Her heart was pounding harder than it ever had before, her eyes were burning with tears that threatened to fall, and her throat went completely dry. A her lips curved into a small, tentative smile.

“You know, I didn’t believe them when they said that the spymaster never slept.” Came the voice of Elissa Cousland, The Hero of Ferelden. “But now I think I’m inclined to.”

She looked different now. Her nose had been broken at some point and had not been set properly, or at least that’s what Leliana could figure based on the way Elissa’s nose sat crooked. Or more crooked than usual. There were two new scars littering what little skin that was visible skin. The largest, and probably the newest, reached from behind her left ear and down her neck, where it was cut off by the armor she wore, while the other was much smaller, Elissa probably hadn’t noticed it, herself. It was small and just below her temple. Her nose and cheeks were pink while the rest of her face was paler than usual. Leliana decided that she must have been in the mountains for some time for her to have windburn like that.  Elissa’s hair had gotten longer, though it was almost too hard to tell because of the way she had her hair plaited. She looked older now, though it had been nearly four years since their last reunion.

She was the same in many ways as well. Her smile was still crooked and and trustworthy, and it showed off that all of her teeth were still intact. Elissa’s eyes still twinkled the same way that they always had, they were still clear and vibrant. Despite her hair being longer and plaited, it still fell into her face a little, just like it had when they were fighting against the blight. 

Leliana couldn’t speak, her throat was too dry, It was too good to be true.

“Are you all right?” Elissa asked, looking worriedly at her and pressing a hand to her forehead. “You’re not ill, are you?”

Leliana let out a choked laugh, wiping her eyes and looking back up at Elissa. “No, I-I just... How are you- How are you here?”

“Some bard you are.” Elissa teased, ignoring Leliana’s question. “Just look at you, stumbling over your words like this.”

Before Leliana could respond, Elissa dropped her pack onto the floor and pulled her into a tight embrace. It’d been so long since she’d been held like this, it felt right. Leliana let herself melt into the embrace, wrapping her arms around Elissa’s strong frame. Despite the way that Elissa’s armor dug into her skin uncomfortably, Leliana pulled her in closer, inhaling deeply. Elissa smelled of soot and wet dog, just like when they had last seen each other. 

“I missed you.” Leliana murmured, frowning when Elissa pulled away a little. 

“And I, you.” Elissa chuckled before furrowing her brow. “Did you not get my letter? I sent word that I would come over a week ago.”

“Maybe the courier lost it?” Leliana suggested, raising an eyebrow. “You know that this is why I use birds.”

“Well, not everyone has a rookery full of messengers.” Elissa rolled her eyes good naturedly. “It’s more likely that he’s dead.” She frowned a little. “I’ll have to investigate... Then inform the family, I s’pose.”

“Things have certainly taken a morbid turn.” Leliana forced a laugh as Elissa stepped away. 

“Always does with us.” Elissa shrugged, taking off her gloves and placing them on Leliana’s desk. “Help me with my chestplate?” She asked with a small smile.

“You can’t do it yourself by now?” Leliana teased, undoing the buckles nonetheless. “You’ve had this particular plate for how long, now?”

“It’s new, actually.” Elissa said with a self satisfied grin. “See? The leather isn’t even worn yet.”

Leliana took a good look at the chestplate. It was still shiny and only had one small dent on the right side. The center of the plate bore the Grey Warden crest, it was slightly raised, a smaller crest was on the back of the plate, between the shoulder blades. She’d seen the material before, it was dragonbone, the kind that Elissa favored. 

“Where did you get this?” Leliana asked, helping Elissa shrug off the plate and set it on the chair before helping to pull off her chainmail.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Elissa smirked a little, moving to take off her greaves. 

“Shall I get one of my agents to look into it?”

“Maybe I’ll tell you if you ask me nicely.”

“Oh?” Her lips quirked up into a small smile.

Leliana let out a small chuckled and dropped the chainmail on the floor before grabbing the front of Elissa’s thick shirt and pulling her into a kiss. Elissa quickly returned the kiss, placing her hands on either side of Leliana’s waist. She was possessive, yet gentle with the gesture. Leliana briefly noted that Elissa’s lips were horribly chapped, another reason to believe that she was in the mountains. She hadn’t noticed Elissa moving her hands until one cupped her cheek, it had been a long time since Elissa’s hands had been soft, years really. While one of the rough, calloused hands cupped her cheek, the other had pulled off her headscarf. 

“Your hair is so lovely.” Elissa said when they pulled away. “Why do you cover it?” She ran her fingers through Leliana’s hair, her eyes unfocused as if she were somewhere far away.

“Where did you get the plate?” Leliana asked, smiling a little at the way Elissa blinked herself back into reality. 

“Soldier's’ Peak.” Elissa replied quickly. “I’d needed a new blade and I was in the area. Mikhael Dryden seemed to be in a good mood because he also noticed the dents in my plate and he forged me a new one as well. I didn’t even ask him to.”

“You needed a new blade?”

“It was an embarrassing story. I’d lost my balance and used my sword to keep myself from falling off the mountain. The blade saved me, but there was no way that I was going to be fighting with a bent sword.”

“How does one lose their balance on a mountain side?”

“By being distracted by a nug wandering about and thinking ‘hmm, wouldn’t Leliana be surprised if I sent that to her.’” Elissa replied dryly, a self satisfied look on her face. 

“You almost fell off a mountain, trying to capture a nug?”

“ _ Thinking about  _ trying to capture a nug. Don’t try and make it better. It was awful.”

Leliana let out a puff of laughter and pressed a kiss to the corner of Elissa’s mouth. “This is one of the many reasons why I love you.”

“I’d like to hear that list.” Elissa said coyly, pulling away from Leliana and glancing out the window. “But I think we could both use some rest.”

A small part of Leliana didn’t want to sleep, she briefly considered the possibility that she’d been trapped in The Fade. “What if you’re just a dream?”

“Trust me, I’d had that thought as well.” Elissa chuckled, taking Leliana’s hand and pulling her toward her bed. “But would I really be that terrible of a dream?”

“It’s not the dream, Love. It’s waking up.”

“You sound like you’ve dealt with this before.”

“You sound like you haven’t.”

With a soft chuckle, Elissa flopped backward onto the bed, effectively pulling Leliana down with her. Landing face first into Elissa’s chest was rarely a poor experience, and this was no exception. Neither spoke for a few moments, Leliana found herself drifting off a little. Blinking herself awake, she forced herself to sit up and roll off the bed, with their luck, the one night they forget to put out the candle would be the one night they burn alive. 

Glancing over at the bed, Leliana was not surprised in the least to see that Elissa had fallen asleep. She took off her chainmail and set it beside Elissa’s, idly hoping not to get the two mixed up in the morning. Leliana sat down on the bed and kicked off her boots before looking over at Elissa, she was still wearing her boots and the quilted shirt that went under her chainmail and over the tunic. Letting out a small sigh, Leliana leaned forward and pulled off Elissa’s boots, tossing them near her own before lying down on the bed.

Elissa was a good deal taller than Leliana was, and possibly most of Thedas, excluding the Qunari. She was longer than Leliana’s bed, forcing her to lie diagonally to stay completely on the bed. It was cute in a way, but it was also inconvenient. Leliana curled herself into Elissa’s chest, trying to make herself as small as possible to not fall off the bed. It seemed as though Elissa noticed her struggle, with a small grunt Elissa rolled onto her side, threw an arm over Leliana’s hip, and held her close. 

Leliana felt her eyelids starting to droop, she tried to blink herself awake, to not succumb to sleep. She looked up at Elissa, her breathing was even and her eyelashes were fluttering, she was dreaming. And based on the peaceful look on her face, Elissa was having a nice dream. Leliana yawned, her eyes were burning a little from keeping herself awake. 

It took a long time to finally drift off, but the warmth from Elissa’s body and the steady rhythm of her heart lulled her to sleep. Not that she really thought she’d be able to resist, Elissa always had a calming effect on her. It always felt right to lie next to her, to feel her strong arms wrapped around her waist, to hear her soft breathing, to kiss those lips, that always seemed to be more chapped than the last time they’d seen each other. 

The sun shone directly into Leliana’s eyes, effectively waking her up. Blinking, Leliana tried to sit up, only to realize that there was a weight on her chest. Literally, at some point in the night, Elissa had slid down the bed, her legs were dangling off the edge and she was using Leliana’s chest as a pillow. A smile formed on her lips as she glanced toward Elissa’s head, she was still fast asleep. Leliana brought a hand to Elissa’s forehead and pushed the stray hairs out of her face, Leliana made a mental note to try and fix Elissa’s hair when they were both fully awake.

“I should’ve taken your other shirt off as well.” Leliana murmured, unable to look away from the beads of sweat that had formed overnight. “We have to wake up soon, there’s no sense in sleeping the day away.” 

Elissa didn’t respond, choosing instead to sleepily mutter and hold onto Leliana’s waist tighter. 

“Come on, Love, it’s time to wake up.” Leliana sighed, gently tapping Elissa’s cheek. 

“No it’s not.” Elissa mumbled, keeping her eyes tightly closed. “I’m the Hero of Ferelden, I can sleep as long as I’d like.”

“Well, I am not, and I mustn’t sleep all day.”

“You were there as well, you’re allowed to sleep.”

Leliana let out a small laugh and stroked Elissa’s hair. “You won’t have to put on your armor.”

With a loud groan, Elissa slid off the bed and onto the floor before standing up and giving Leliana a fake indignant look. “It’s been so long since I’ve slept that well.” She said, stretching a little before taking off her quilted shirt. “Maker, I most definitely did not need a blanket.”

“Or a pillow, it seems.” Leliana smiled, sitting up and watching as Elissa wiped her face on the inside of her tunic, a scowl painting her features at the display.

Elissa seemed to notice the look on Leliana’s face. “Don’t look at me like that, I have more clothes in my pack.”

“You can’t blame me for worrying.” Leliana said, climbing out of the bed. 

Elissa rolled her eyes. “It would be expected of us Ferelden barbarians, would it not?”

“I’ve seen how you live.”

“Just for that, you’re no longer allowed to watch me undress.” Elissa said, grabbing her pack and digging through it to find some clothes. 

“You don’t mean that.” Leliana said, not even bothering to hide her leering. 

Elissa rolled her eyes and pulled off her tunic, tossing it to the side. Leliana allowed herself to stare at Elissa’s toned form, from the light dusting of freckles on her shoulders to the old scar that ran from her the right side of navel to just below her left  breast. There were old burns on boths sides of her body and some that ran up and down her arms, most were healed but there were a couple fresh ones. Elissa seemed to feel eyes on her and she grinned widely before turning a little to the side, giving Leliana a view of her back. There were scars all up and down Elissa’s back, some looked like they were made by blades, some by arrows, and a set of three looked eerily like claw marks. The claw marks were new to Leliana, they started at her shoulder blade and ended near her spine.

“We were attacked at camp.” Elissa said, offering an apologetic smile. “We never saw it coming.”

“Did anyone-?”

“No. We all made it out.”

“What was it?”

“We were going to kill a high dragon, the dragonlings found us. It wasn’t too terrible.” 

“And the high dragon?”

Elissa’s smile widened. “Where do you think the armor came from?”

Leliana smiled a little. “I missed you.”

“And I, you.” Elissa said, putting on a new tunic. “I missed you more than anything.” She paused and bit her lip. “I would’ve been here sooner if I weren’t... I  _ should  _ have come sooner...” Her brow furrowed and her face looked pained. “I should have been there, especially after Dorthea... sorry, Justinia. I could have-”

“Could have what?” Leliana asked, trying to keep herself from snapping. “Become a host to Corypheus? Or succumbed to a false calling and gone down to the Deep Roads to die?”

Elissa was silent as she changed her trousers and her socks, her face grave. “Only the mages were possessed.” She muttered under her breath, barely audible. 

Leliana chose to ignore her, rather than say something she’d be sure to regret later. “Why did you come to Skyhold, anyway?”

“I mentioned it in my letter.” Elissa said in a slightly clipped tone. 

“A letter that never arrived.” Leliana reminded, earning a small sigh from Elissa.

“I had just left Orzammar, was in the area.” Elissa slipped her boots on. “Sort of.”

“What were you doing in Orzammar?” Leliana asked, watching as Elissa’s face lightened a little. 

Leliana watched as Elissa dug through her pack for a few moments before withdrawing her hand, something closed in her fist. She wore a self satisfied look on her face as she stood up and walked over to Leliana. This piqued Leliana’s curiosity as she watched Elissa closely.

“I got you something.” Elissa said.

Leliana had to stop herself from teasing Elissa, choosing instead to smile. “And I had nothing for you.”

“Well, the sky did open up and demons fell out.” Elissa shrugged, taking Leliana’s hand and turning it so the palm was up. “The least I could do is reward the spymaster with something.”

Before Leliana could ask what it was, Elissa dropped a small charm on a chain into her hand, but continuing to hold the chain. It was a brass charm with the likeness of a nug expertly carved into it. Leliana grinned widely and looked at Elissa, who looked remarkably proud of herself. 

“You found this in Orzammar?” Leliana asked, 

“No, I got it at Soldier’s Peak from one of the Dryden children..” Elissa paused, her brow furrowing. “I have no idea which. And I took it with me to Orzammar, I was heading there anyway, so I asked for something to be engraved on the other side.”

Leliana turned the charm around and let out a light laugh at the sight of the Symbol of Andraste that had been expertly engraved on the back. “Not that I don’t appreciate the gift, but why?”

“Well, after what happened in Haven, I figured that you’d lost a lot of your things, especially any of the things that I’d sent you, so... I just thought that...” Elissa’s cheeks turned pink. “You’d like it. Do you?”

“I love it.” Leliana smiled widely, leaning forward and kissing Elissa quickly. “I love you.”

“And I love you.” Elissa said, her eyes widening after a moment. “Hold on!”

Leliana laughed a little as Elissa dived back into her pack. “You didn’t get me another gift, did you? Because I haven’t got anything for you.”

“You weren’t expecting me,” Elissa replied in a giddy tone. “I don’t expect you to have gifts waiting for me.” She paused for a moment. “There it is!” 

“There what is?” Leliana placed the charm on the desk beside her bed.

“The courier isn’t dead, I’m just an idiot.” Elissa grinned, handing Leliana a crumpled letter with the Warden seal on it. “I must’ve forgotten to give it to him. Apologies.”

Leliana went about unfolding the letter, feeling slightly self conscious at the way Elissa was watching her. “At least you don’t have to organize a search party now... Or notify the family. I know how you hate doing that.”

“You’re much better at it than I am.” Elissa said, taking her hair out of its plait without taking her eyes off of Leliana. 

“And how do you know that?”

“You have a much sweeter voice than I do, it softens the blow a little.”

“Flatterer.” Leliana sighed, looking down at Elissa’s neat script. “I don’t see why I need to read this now that you’re here.”

“I said some sweet things in that letter, you deserve to read it.” Elissa grinned, shaking her hair free. It was definitely longer, and the night’s sleep had certainly made it wilder.

Leliana chuckled and looked at the letter, eyes narrowing at what Elissa had written. It looked like a recipe for an extremely complicated potion. “Are you sure this is for me and not a mage?”

Elissa nodded. “Completely sure.”

“What is this?”

Elissa’s smile widened. “That... is the cure.” 

Leliana’s heart skipped a beat at Elissa’s words, she looked up from the letter, meeting Elissa’s gaze. For a moment she watched Elissa’s face, trying to tell if this was some kind of joke, but Elissa seemed sincere. Suddenly, Leliana felt lightheaded as relief washed over here, it was difficult to look at Elissa properly. Her throat went dry and her eyes filled with tears, this time she felt that she might actually cry. 

“Y-you’re sure that this is...?” Leliana swallowing and blinked back tears. “You’re sure that this is it?”

“Yes.” Elissa nodded. “I’ve already sent the recipe and some vials to Weisshaupt, they’ll distribute it from there, but otherwise, you’re the first to know. I... I wanted you to be... I knew that you’d want to know.”

Leliana was speechless for a few moments as she tried to collect her thoughts. 

“I knew I should’ve told you differently.” Elissa said mostly to herself. “I just thought that you’d appreciate the surprise, but-”

Before Elissa could finish her sentence, Leliana grabbed the front of her tunic and cut her off with a kiss. They’d kissed thousands of times, and yet this one felt different. This one had promise, it promised a future. Elissa’s hands moved to either side of Leliana’s face, deepening the kiss. Leliana felt her tears finally fall, soaking her cheeks and probably Elissa’s hands.

“Love, are you all right?” Elissa’s eyes were swimming with worry.

“I’m more than all right.” Leliana said, smiling a little when Elissa wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I’ve never been this happy.”

“Never?” Elissa asked in a teasing tone. “Not ever?”

“No. Not ever.” Leliana kissed Elissa quickly. “This is the happiest moment of my life.”

Elissa flashed Leliana a smug grin before speaking. “Then I’ll just have to work very hard to give you more moments like this.” 

Leliana laughed a little. “You could start by letting me fix this mess that you call hair.” 

“You learn that I found a cure for the Calling and you decide to celebrate by plaiting my hair?”

“I can’t be expected to grow old with you when I’m forced to look at this mane every day.” Leliana laughed, attempting to comb her fingers through Elissa’s hair. “And besides, I can’t allow my Warden to wander around Skyhold looking a mess, what would the others think?”

“Your Warden?”

“Yes, my Warden! You’re as much mine as I am yours.”


End file.
